Water bomb



M'. C. A. H, PAPE Mar. zo, 1923.

WATER BOMB Filed Sept. 50, 1920 L@ Ma@ Patented Mar. 20, 1923..

.Maize MAX CARL AUGUST HERMANN PAPE, or NEUMUHLRN-DIETRICHSDORF, NEAR KIEL, GERMANY, AssIeNoR To THR rim/r oARBoNIT Airrrnnensnrtsoirarfr, or HAM- BURG, GERMANY.

WATER BOTIIB.

Application :filed September 30, 1920. Serial N0. 413,882.

To all whom t may concer/n.'

Be it known that I, MAX CARL AUGUST HERMANN PAPE, a citizen of the German Republic, residing at Neu'muhlenDietrichsdorf, near Kiel, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lVa-ter Bombs (for which have filed aplication in Germany` June 9, 1917 Sweden, ec. 8, 1919; Finland, Dec. 18, 1919; Spain,

Dec. 18, 1919; Czechoslovakia, Feb. 111, 1920;

Holland, June 9, 1920), oi which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a water bomb designed to destroy submerged objects, said bomb, comprising a iioat which, as is well known in submarine-water mines, detaches itself from the bomb proper when the complete bomb is thrown into the water, remaining connected with it only by means of a cable or rope.

According to this invention, the cable is not attached directly to the bomb, but is normally in connection with a percussion primer, which is designed to operatey a time fuze adapted to ignite the explosive charge by the intermediary of a detonator. This percussion primer, though the bomb be ready Jfor use is normally not under tension but will be put under tension through the aid of said rope only at a predetermined moment when the bomb, after being thrown overboard, has reached a certain depth.

The safeguard against accidental eXplosion, resulting from the fact that the percussion primer of the bomb is not under tension unless the rope exerts a pull on the primer in upward direction, is further increased by the peculiar construction of the ioat, which, when clinging to the bomb, guides the connecting rope in such manner that, when a pull is exerted upon it, it cannot transmit this pull to the percussion primer outwardly but will tend to pull it in an opposite direction in which no tensioning of the primer is possible. The time fuze adapted to be operated by the percussion primer comprises a number of fuzes of different length from which one or the other can be selected and brought in operative position in which it may bridge the space between the primer and the deto'nator by adjusting a rotatable drum carrying the said fuzes.

The invention further contemplates the determined point of the circumierences of p the drum.

By this construction of the time fuze the technical advantage obtained that fuzes or fuzing compositions of different lengths can be arranged in such a manner that they can be easily inserted between the point of culmination and the charge and moreover that though there is only a comparatively small space at hand in bombs of this den scription for a time fuze, yet sufficiently long uzes may be employed for determining unusual long intervals after which `the explosion is to take place.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1'is a longitudinal section of the complete water bomb ready to be ejected.

Fig. 2 illustrates the time uze. i

The water bomb consists of the receptacle b filled with the burstingcharge a, of a casing c for the time :tuze and the percussion primer, and of the floater d loosely mounted upon said casing so that it detachee itself from said primer when the bomb is being thrown, said floater being connected with the percussion primer m through a rope r.

The detonating cap f/ oit' the detonating charge e axially mounted in the bursting charge a; projects from the top plate f into the casing c. The percussion primer m 1s arranged opposite the detonating cap g' in the top plate of the casing c, said percussion primer being put under tension by means oi a rope r when the bomb has reached the depth determined by the rope, to be released at once Iso that'it strikes upon the priming cap situated Ain said casing. The percussion primer m consists of a spring influenced percussion pin a, Ethe upper ball` shaped end of'which is gripped by pincers 0 which are broughtinto an enlargement of the primer tube when the pin is beingv 7pulled out so that said pincers open and release the percussion pin which, through Ythe actionl of the spring is made to strike upon the priming cap p located in the inner or lowerrv end of the primer tube.v y

The float d is mounted with. its `flange upon the casing 0 so that it can detach itself easily from its seat and it carries in its front end a rope drum 'guponfwhich'afr'opew is wound which is attached on the other hand to the pincers 0. Vhen the bomb is being thrown, the float detaches itself from the casing c and is turned upside down through the pull of the rope r which unwinds from the drum, this drum Q being now underneath.

As soon as the unwinding of the rope is stopped the percussion primer m is oper-` ated through the weight of the bomb and ignites the time fuze.

The time fuze is constructed as Jfollows: Upon a cross shaft L rotatably mounted in the side walls of the casing c, six discs t' or" sheet metal are keyed at short distances apart in such a manner that their rims extend from the priming cap p to the detonating cap g, only very little play being left between said rims and said caps. rllhe discs z' are connected the one with the other at the rims by means of ten wood blocks o. Between two of these wood blocks o a metal tube j is mounted which is closed at the inner end and serves for producing the dead point position. Five fuzes 7J are fixed between said discs i (one fuze between every two discs). Each fuze is fixed with its ends to two opposite wood blocks o (Fig. 2). The fuzes Ic are of different lengths and possess consequently diiferent fuzing times. Through turning the shaft 7L. any of the fuzes 7c can be brought into such a position that one end is opposite to the percussion cap y), the other end being opposite the priming cap g, so that the interval between the ignition of the fuze by the percussion cap p and the detonation of the bomb can be regulated at will.

The adjusting of the fuzes is effected by means of a lever Z mounted upon the outer end of the shaft 7i, said lever having a stud designed to be inserted in one of six holes of a disc which can be rotated so that either the metal tube j or one of'the five fuzes 7c stands opposite the percussion cap p. In orderv to prevent the accidental ignition of the fuzes the metal tube j stands generally opposite the percussion cap.

One of the side walls ofthe rope drum Q has three slots and upon its outer surface a locking bolt s is arranged. The rope r of the float has three loops at points which correspond with determined depths of submersion of the bomb. VThese loops are put through the slots of the side wall of the drum and the `locking bolt s is inserted throughthe same. The locking bolt is adjusted so that itk releases one, two or three loops according to the depth of submersion. It the bomb has to detonate upon the bottom of the sea, a thin copper wire is placed in the .first loop which can be fixed to the end ot' the locking bolt and the rope is cut through vatV vthe second loop. If now the bomb is thrown, the rope of the rstloop is pressed with a jerk upon the thin copper wire whereby the percussion primer is operated, whereupon the wire is bent so far that it releases the loop. T he rope can now unwind to the cut point oit the rope, the bomb7 to sink afterwards upon t-he bottom of the sea where it will explode.

As long as the iioat sits upon the bomb it is impossible that the percussion primer be operated through a pull exerted upon the rope, as in consequence of the lower end of the rope being conducted upwards to be atw tached to the percussion pin, a pull exerted upon the rope would act in inverse direction upon said pin.

I claim 1. In a bomb designed to be submerged in water, the combination of an explosive shell having a separable float loosely attached thereto by a rope, a percussion primer in said shell connected to the end of said rope` a detonator adapted to ignite the explosive charge within the shell, and atime ituze intermediate the primer and the detonator and adapted to ignite the detonator a predetermined interval of time after the primer has been tired owing to the pull on the rope by said float, the time fuze comprising a rotatable drum embodying a series of fuzes of different lengths each of which is adapted to bridge the space between the primer and the detonator according to the adjustment of the drum.

2. In a bomb designed to be submerged in water7 the combination of an explosive shell having a separable float loosely attached thereto by a rope, a percussion primer in said shell connected to the end of said rope, a detonator adapted to ignite the explosive charge within the shell, and a time fuze intermediate the primer and the detonator and adapted to ignite the detonator a predetermined interval of time after the primer has been fired owinoto the pull on the rope by said iioat7 the time fuze comprising a series of disks connected to form a drum, a fuze between every two adjacent disks, the fuzes having different lengths and each beingr adapted to bridge the space between the primer and the detonator according to the adjustment of the drum.

3. In a bomb designed to be submerged in water, the combination of an explosive shell having a separable float loosely attached thereto by a rope, a percussion primer in said shell connected to the end of said rope, a detonator adapted to ignite vthe explosive charge within the shell, a time fuze intermediate the primer and the detonator and adapted to ignite the detonator a predetermined interval of time after the'primer has been fired owing to the pull on the rope by said float, the time fuze comprising a rotatable drum embodying a series of fuzes otfdifferent lengths, and each otw'hich-is adapted to bridge the space between `the primer and the detonator according to the adjustment of the drum, and means for rotating the drum from outside the shell.

4f. In a bomb designed to be submerged in Water, the combination of an explosive shell having a separable float loosely attached thereto by a rope, a percussion primer in said shell connected to the end of said rope, a detonator adapted to ignite the explosive charge within the shell, and a time fuze intermediate the primer and the detonator and adapted to ignite the detonator a predetermined interval of time after the primer has been fired owing to the pull on the rope by said float, the time fuze comprising a rotatable drum embodying a series of uzes of different lengths and each of which is adapted to bridge the space between the primer and thedetonator according to the adjustment of the drum, each uZe connecting opposite points of the circumference. of the drum7 the points ot' connection being distributed more or less evenly to allow of an adjustment opposite the primer and one space being left blank to permit an adjustment of the drum to prevent iring of the bomb when the rope is accidentally pulled.

5. A bomb designed to be submerged in water, comprising an explosive shell, a float detachable from the bomb within water, a percussion primer in the shell and a rope connecting the float with the said primer adapted to operate the primer at a moment determined by the length of the rope, and a time fuze in the bomb comprising a shaftrotatably mounted in the casing of said bomb, juxtaposed discs keyed upon said shaft, and fuzes of different lengths connecting opposite points of the circumference of said discs.

6. A bomb designed to be submerged in water, comprising an explosive shell, a float detachable from the bomb within water, a percussion primer in the shell and a rope connecting the float with the said primer adapted to operate the primer at a moment determined by the length of the rope, and a time fuze in the bomb comprising a shaft rotatably mounted in the casing of said bomb, juxtaposed discs keyed upon said shaft, uzes of different lengths connecting opposite points of the circumference of said discs, and a metal tube closed at the inner end and fixed in said discs in a position to adapt it to be brought opposite to said percussion primer to intercept the igniting jet from said percussion primer when accidentally operated.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MAX CARL AUGUST HERMANN PAPE.

Witnesses:

PETER LAMBRECHS, I-IANs GLINDMEIER. 

